The annual MAD Magazine panel
Behind-the-scenes panels with designers, finding out about costumes, sets, and props
Superhero movie composers
The Simpsons panel
Women in Animation and Women Rocking Hollywood (women directors), hosted by my friend Leslie Combemale Marty Krofft and the new Sigmund and the Sea Monsters!
And, as always, the costumes and new technology and movie previews and surprises!
I can’t believe it’s the last day of Comic-Con, but in part that is because I am too exhausted to muster the energy to think about it. More coming, including pictures of some of my favorite costumes, but for now, some of what I did today:
Got my picture taken in a Walking Dead crashed plane, being attacked by zombies,
Copyright 2016 Nell Minow
Attended a panel led by my dear friends the Winner Twins, Brittany and Brianna Winner, award-winning novelists whose first book was published when they were twelve. They were joined by Graeme Manson (co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Orphan Black), Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo/Tom Zarek of Battlestar Galactica, author of the bestselling Battlestar Galactica book series), and Stephen Glickman (comedy writer, producer, star of Big Time Rush, Workaholics), who all provided great advice and inspiration for those hoping to write novels or screenplays.
Watched the world premiere of a new animated film for children called “Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year,” with young versions of Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, and more having adventures and making friends at a school for superheroes.
Heard women who write and illustrated the underground Wimmen’s Commix of late 1960’s-70’s tell their stories.
Participated in the Starship Smackdown, a Comic-Con tradition that combines two of the event’s most appealing themes — stunning mastery of pop culture minutiae and a sense of humor about it. Participants from the world of sci-fi and one actual scientist get together to debate which is the greatest fictional starship of them all. (It usually comes down to the Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon.) And it is enormous fun.
Comic-Con 2016: Production Designers and Women Rocking Hollywood
Posted on July 24, 2016 at 9:41 am
Copyright Nell Minow 2016
On Day 3 of Comic-Con 2016, I:
Attended a panel of production designers whose work ranged from “The Avengers” to “Justified,” “True Blood,” and “America’s Top Model,” and learned that one of the most important distinctions between designing for movies and designing for television is: doors. For a movie, the entire story is spelled out so you know everything you will need for entrances and exits. But television series go on (if they’re lucky) for years, and you never know when you’ll need another door.
Attended a panel of top women producers and directors whose work included “Twilight,” “300” and the upcoming “Wonder Woman,” who talked about working to make sure we see more strong, independent female characters presented by more women behind the scenes,
Had my picture taken with the characters from “Kubo and the Two Strings,” coming out next month.
Saw vinyl versions of the “Star Wars” soundtrack with holograms of the Millennium Falcon and X-Wing fighter suspended above them.
Realized that a lot of what I see involves not-scary things being made scary (zombie teletubbies), or scary things being made not scary (Funko Pop Freddy from “Nightmare on Elm Street”).
Attended the Masquerade costume competition, always one of the highlights of SDCC, with a sensational version of Lumiere from “Beauty and the Beast” and an Addams Family number that included “relatives” Sam, Patch, Douglas, and Grizzly. Both won top awards. But the highlight of the evening was a re-enactment of the climactic fight scene between Kylo Ren and Rey in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” When Rey held out her palm to use the Force, Kylo Ren dropped to one knee and pulled a red ring box out of his pocket. He was proposing! And she accepted! The crowd stood up and cheered.
Ran into a “Sharknado 4” parade with Elvises on stilts,
Talked to CBS television series stars, including James Wolk of “Zoo,” Tyler James Williams of “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jaydn Wong from “Scorpion,” Wilmer Valderrama of “NCIS,” and Megan Ketch of “American Gothic,”
Saw directors Oliver Stone and Luc Besson in their first-ever Comic-Con appearances, to talk about their upcoming films “Snowden” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,”
Heard a fascinating discussion about Mormon comic artists,
Visited an interactive experience inspired by the new television series, “Timeless,” that involved being swirled around in a Gravitron and exiting into a hallway showing that past historical events had been altered and being so dizzy it seemed like they might be true, and
Attended one of my favorite annual events, the Mad about MAD — MAD Magazine panel. There were jokes about the current political candidates, of course. When asked if they weren’t secretly hoping Trump would win because he provides such good material, they said that they were sure whoever got elected would give them plenty to make fun of. MAD has a free ebook on Donald Trump and some of its most popular artwork is now available on Zazzle. They have a forthcoming parody book called Goodnight Batcave. I was delighted to hear that “MADtv” is returning to television, Tuesday nights on the CW. In response to questions, John Ficarra said that yes, they’ve been sued (by Irving Berlin), and that the stories that produce the most hate mail are when they make fun of boy bands. And I love to hear the stories of the legendary trips the entire staff used to take together. On one cruise to Bermuda, they played a joke on MAD founder Wiliam Gaines by re-enacting the famous stateroom scene from “A Night at the Opera.” By the time the room was filled with MAD writers and artists, crew members, and random strangers, he was roaring with laughter. And so, as they told the story, was the audience, still MAD about MAD.
Wednesday is always preview night at Comic-Con, a chance to explore the Exhibition Hall, where you can get glimpses of new television shows, movies, and games, and buy just about any household item or article of clothing with your favorite superhero or animated character on it. You can also get a sneak peek at full episodes of some upcoming television shows. I watched “Riverdale,” with the Archie Comics characters in a story that is more like “Twin Peaks” or “Pretty Little Liars.” “90210’s” Luke Perry even appears as Archie’s dad.
In this story, Veronica has just moved to town after her wealthy father has lost his money following a Madoff-like fraud scandal. Archie had a sexual encounter with a teacher. Betty’s sister has had a mental breakdown. And Moose is bi-curious.
It is disconcerting at first to see the characters we know from silly jokes in the malt shop and school dances dealing with anguish and possibly even murder. And the actors do not look like teenagers. But it might work.
Then there’s a comedy called “Powerless,” with a very different take on superheroes. Vanessa Hudgens plays an insurance claims officer who is responsible for paying for damages caused by superheroes. And Conan O’Brien is one of the producers of “People of Earth,” with Wyatt Cenac, Oscar Nunez, and Ana Gasteyer as “experiencers” who have had alien encounters. Both were pretty funny and I look forward to more.
